Mohave County miner., 1887-03-12
FEMALE LA8ORERS.
Europesa wonsen EnEaged IN AgYieult1rs
and OiheP Manual Inber. Fl.

s@o "shkt 1S8HoAb IIsUOfs
Whether il be the existence of enor.
nous standing armies. the havoc Of
centuries Of war. the absence of prae4i.
cal educational facilities or the Iownsss
Of laborers' wages, that compels no
many women on the continent OF Eu.
rope to seek to gain living In occupa-
tons which we deem I'll only for the
strongest and rudest Of men. certain II
Is that one Of the commonest and. TO
American e.'e- the s,rangcst sights
there Is the number of women engaged
in agricultural and other severe manual
labor. In France women are still oc-
cupicd in the mines, dragging or push
ing the heavy trucks Of coal through
the narrow tunnels that run from tie
seams to the shaft. N course, in such
work they adopt the ordinary costume
Of the working miners and at the first
glance are net TO bs Distinguished frcn
tn: men by whose side they arc work
ing. Some cf the entries in the French
census ~ 10 the laboring population
are strange enough. In raris there are
nine female bo~t-builders. and 245
"wheelwrigbts. farricrs and saddlers,"
cght sawyer,. forty-six carpenters aud
iO'ncrs, eight masons and one plumber.
Ii Is, however, In Austria that we find
the greatest proportion OF women en-
gagged In heavy physical labor. not mere
ly in agriculture or the n1incs. but in
paving and cleaning the streets or in
carrying huge trays Of mortar or htds
OF bricks up to the workmen on the
scaholding OF buildings in the course of
erection. These women do not seem to
complain of their lot: they have been
bred up to hard work from infancy and
arc used T., nothing better; their
language and manners are as course as
those OF the male laborcrs, whom in
figure they resemble .high-c,icsted,
oad-shoultlered, no trace OF waist.
and possessed of great strength. To
such stout daughters Of the plow" tits
IN easy task to pull a s,rcat-sprinklero or
pull about hand-cart laden with milk.
as may be seen any day in Antwerp.
where the m;lk-woman, with her
neat white cap and 'kcrchiea and her
assistant dog, Is striking street pict-
urc. In Pr,is,i about 5000 women are
workers in mines, gua-ries and
and about 1000 are classified
as ''driyers, Positions and railway
laborcrs," and about 1000 xs '.ships'
crews, sailors. boatmcn and fcrrymen;"
in this last category will come women
employed IN towing canal boats. 1t
has been asked why do not women
adopt callings more adapted TO fem.
ininc hands? The reason seems To be
the industrial cond, ton of great part
Of the European continent, which af-
fords 10 them no better means OF earn
ing living, and the fact that these oc-
cupat ons. which ure 20 utter unfcm-
ininc, are just those in which un-
skilled labor can be employed A
change, However, is slowly COM
ing nbout by the growth OF i'm.
portant industries In every country.
The factory system has been found
In Germany to have . strong tendency
to improve the condition, not only OF
the women immediately cmployed in
them, but CT those working in the coun-
try around A large employer at Frei-
burg, after thirty years experience.
:aid: The condition II the agricultural
laborcrs is not a satisfactory one. There
il mnc. misery among them. especially
moral misery. When mothers apply to !.
Us for work for strong, healthy girls we |
toll them snch girls are more fit for
labor in tile fields. blt too frequently |
receive an account Of the hard and im- !
moral lie assoc ated with such service. /
The scene change wh"n well-managcd /,
factory comes into the village. The |
roor z .rls must then either receive tet- !
ter treatment and better wages or they /
90 into thu factory. The moral benefit |
Dt wcl!.or,Icred factory is still greater;
I Affects the whole village. ."-Ra,po =
BIzdr.